


Love, Death, and Robots

by hobiwankenobi (10_pasesfire)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Everyone Is Gay, Inventor! Kim Seungmin, Kim Seungmin-centric, M/M, Robot! Hwang Hyunjin, even robots can be gay, hyunjin is a mysterious boi, idk how to tag stuff, maybe this will be good, we will see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-04-11 19:37:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19116343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10_pasesfire/pseuds/hobiwankenobi
Summary: Seungmin's friends were completely wrapped up in a world of love.Seungmin was wrapped up in a world of technology.One day, a mysterious android shows up on Seungmin's doorstep and the two worlds collide.





	1. One

_Seoul, South Korea 2038_

 

_February 14th_

 

Valentine’s Day is arguably the dumbest holiday in existence. In all the years of human prosperity and innovation, Seungmin would have hoped that this ‘holiday’ would have been done away with at some point. But no, the universe was hell-bent on ensuring his suffering apparently. It was bad enough that he hung around his friends and their public displays of affection every other day. Now there was no holding back.

 

On a normal day, they would all sit down in the cafeteria for lunch. They would talk about the school day thus far, make jokes, a kiss between lovers would occur every now and then. Today, Seungmin sat down and he didn’t think anyone even noticed he had approached. He could sprout flowers from his ears and most likely no one but Jeongin would notice. Jeongin was the only one who seemed to understand his pain, and even he found the situation more amusing than anything.

 

Seungmin didn’t hate his friends for having found happiness, but did they all have to be dating within their friend group? Like how does that even happen?

 

Seungmin coughed dramatically to get the attention of the others.

 

“How can you guys stand to do that in the presence of a child?” Seungmin huffed dramatically.

 

Chan and Woojin had the decency to look at least somewhat sheepish about their make-out fest in front of Jeongin, but Minho simply bit back in response “Sorry Seungmin, didn’t notice you had arrived. I don’t want to offend your fragile sensibilities.”

 

“Wow, I’m dying of laughter.” Seungmin rolled his eyes. “I do not have fragile sensibilities, I have a gag reflex and it’s acting up because of you guys.”

 

“Gag reflex, huh? Make sure to put that down on your dating profile, that will get rid of a few contenders.”

 

“Minho!” Jisung squealed before Seungmin had the chance to, taking his hands and covering Jeongin’s ears. “What the fuck?”

 

“Jeongin isn’t all that innocent. You guys were freshman boys before, you know how that shit is.”

 

“Control your boyfriend, Jisung.” Seungmin coughed.

 

“Have you met him? He’s too wild to tame.” Seungmin shook his head at the blatant display of weakness from the other.

 

“I expected better from you.”

 

“I can hear you guys.” Jeongin spoke up “Like, everything.”

 

“Can’t even sensor Jeongin’s life correctly.” Seungmin tsked.

 

“I can see I’m not appreciated here.”

 

Jisung made a point to look at Minho who continued to munch on his lunch food.

 

“Babe!” Jisung whined. “You’re supposed to tell me I’m wrong!”

 

“You’re always wrong, I didn’t think I needed to tell you that.”

 

A plethora of emotions passed over Jisung’s face before he promptly began to bicker with his significant other. Leave it to Minho to both compliment you and insult you at the same time, Seungmin supposed. He always thought the two made an odd couple. They weren’t sweet to each other, exchanging meaningful glances and gentle kisses like Chan and Woojin. Everything about them seemed to be rough. He would never understand it.

 

Seungmin was more acquainted with the inner workings of a clock than the mind of a human. At least that made sense.

 

As he watched his friends with their touchy-feely-ness and their bickering, he truly didn’t get it. Maybe he never really would. He would never get the way Woojin held whole conversations with Chan using just his eyes or the way Changbin and only Changbin could console Felix on the days when he felt utterly lost in this new culture.

 

Even Jeongin had an understanding of it if the way he blushed whenever that kid Jaemin winked at him had anything to say about it.

 

He hated Valentine’s Day. It always seemed to send him into an existential crisis of sorts. Was he a weirdo like some people thought? Chan had always told him that he would get it once he found the right one, but what even constituted the ‘right one’? He thought about it more and more as he left school following the last bell of the day. He wondered how he would find that person. If they would just show up one day at a grocery store and he would know they're the one or if they would descend from the heavens to angel songs. The way his friends made it sound sometimes, he didn’t believe the latter option to be so farfetched.

 

He sighed as he walked home, kicking a stone along down the empty pathway. As he moved from the heart of the city to the corner where he lived, the roads only got more narrow and slightly more sketchy. Moving from the more residential part of town to a street corner to live in one of those shops with the houses on top didn’t make much sense to Seungmin or his mother. They had been doing just fine with a nice little house and a repair shop separate from them.

 

His dad said that this would get them more business and that it would be a fun experience. His friends thought the place was cool, but he just thought it was a bit creepy. He finally reached home after the fifteen-minute trek from school. Keying in the code to the garage door, he went in past the line of repaired robots his dad had cranked out over the last few weeks. They were always a little off-putting, standing upright with their blank stares. It sent a shiver up his spine.

 

His dad had taught him how to repair robots like that, given him the rundown of their basic make-up and common issues. How to run diagnostics and install updates. He was more interested in smaller projects for the time being, though. He went inside and tossed his bag down by the door where he left his shoes.

 

“I’m home!” he called out as he made a beeline for the kitchen. He never missed out on an afternoon snack. It was the only thing that could possibly get him through his physics homework.

 

“Hey honey,” came his mother’s sweet voice. “I’m in the basement doing laundry!”

 

He grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet and made his way downstairs. The basement was a bit crowded since it housed both the washing machine and dryer as well as his dad’s main workshop. A huge table sat in the middle of it with tool boxes and blueprints scattered all about it. His mother was always getting on his father to clean the place up so she wouldn’t almost trip and fall to her death every time she wanted to wash the linens.

 

Every time he cleaned, though, it only fell into disarray once more a few days later.

 

He approached his mom who reached out and pulled him into a side hug, ruffling his bangs as she did. “How was your day? Get any confessions from any cute girls? Or boys, or whatever you’re into.” she chuckles lightly.

“No, no confessions for me. Just the eighth wheel as per usual. It’ll probably turn into the tenth wheel soon if Jeongin doesn’t explode before Jaemin confesses to him.”

 

“Awe, Jeongin has always been the cutest little thing.”

 

“Mom, everyone knows he’s cute. Can you focus on my suffering please?” He collapses his head against her arm with a dramatic huff. “I will die the tenth wheel of my entire friend group.”

 

“Since when have you cared so much about being in a relationship?” She questioned while she moved the freshly washed clothes to the dryer.

 

“I’m not, but it was more easy to be single when I had someone to suffer with. Now I’m gonna be super alone.”

 

“Well, if your charms and good looks fail you, you could always build yourself a partner.”

 

“Mom!”

 

“I’m sorry!” she laughed. “In all seriousness, honey, you will find someone. Not dating in high school is not the end of the world by any means. You will not die the tenth wheel, alright?” She leans over and kisses him on the head.

 

“You’re my mom, you have to say that.” He mumbles through a pout.

 

“Uh-huh. Hey, your father and I are going out tonight, how about you invite some friends over and take your mind off of your suffering?”

 

“That will only increase my suffering.” he sighs as he heads back up the stairs. He pulls his phone out and sends a message to the group.

 

_Seung_ to **Gay Nation**

 

**Seung:** yall free tonight or are you going to go on romantic strolls through the park?

 

**Mylilfox:** im free hyung

 

**Minhoe:** you kids have fun, the adults are going out

 

**Seung:** i hate you

 

**Minhoe:** love you too

 

In the end, Jeongin is the only one that came over.

 

* * *

 

It’s about 10 pm when it happens. Seungmin’s parents have been gone for about an hour and a half. He and Jeongin had binged watched about half of season one of Attack On Titan and they both were running out of fuel. Jeongin’s fox-like eyes had just fluttered closed and his head was drooping, coming to rest on Seungmin’s shoulder. He was ready to give up and succumb to sleep when there was a crash outside that jostled them both out of sleep.

 

“What was that?” Jeongin mumbled drowsily. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up which was almost cute enough to distract Seungmin from the loud noise that had occurred. But then there came another loud noise, getting a small shriek from both boys. “Hyung, what the fuck?”

 

“I dunno, Innie.” he replied shakily. Seungmin got up slowly from the couch. Jeongin looked like he wanted to protest Seungmin moving, but he was interrupted by another noise: a knock at the door. The two exchanged a look before Seungmin began to head to the door, Jeongin so close behind he stepped on Seungmin’s heels a few times.

 

Seungmin grabbed the nearest thing he could use as a weapon, one of his dad’s engineering awards, and went to the side of the door, holding it up like a baseball bat.

 

“Open the door on one,” he instructed Jeongin. The boy nodded, grabbing the doorknob and using it to yank the door open once Seungmin had counted down. “Three… two… one!”

 

The door was open, and Seungmin saw… absolutely nothing. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Not by what he could tell in the darkness of the late evening. That is until-

 

“Hyung!” Jeongin tapped him, pointing down to the ground. Seungmin looked down, noticing a form curled up on the side of the porch, just out of Seungmin’s line of sight. Seungmin moved back inside a bit to turn on the porch light and peered back out. It was a boy.

 

“Oh my god! Jeongin.” Seungmin looked to the other who was already moving to help him lift the guy up. They went to either side of him and took an arm, wrapping them around their own shoulders to haul him inside. It was quite a task, though, considering the guy was heavier than he looked and a solid foot taller than both of them. Once they were finally able to get him to the couch, they placed him down on to it and both bent over heaving.

 

“Is this guy made of rocks or something? Geez.” Seungmin was too distracted with the state of the other boy to comment on Jeongin’s statement. The boy was, to put it simply, a mess. There was dirt smudged on his cheeks. His hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days and his clothes look like they had been nested in by a family of raccoons. He surveyed the other’s body, looking for any visible scratches or cuts.

 

He made it all the way back up to his face where two very open and very bright, glowing eyes were staring up at him. He jumped back, a small startled squeal escaping him. Jeongin squealed in response, looking over to the boy on the couch whose eyes fixed on him instead causing the younger to shriek again.

 

“What the fuck? Hyung, what the fuck, oh my god!”

 

“Don’t panic, it’ll only make me panic!”

 

“I’m already panicking, his eyes are glowing!”

 

While the two were panicking, they didn’t see the boy clumsily pull himself into a sitting position.

 

He looked at the two others, eyes blank and open wide. “What’s the matter?” Both boys stopped, looking over at the other as if he had grown a second head. His voice was distorted, stuttery as if he were short-circuiting.

 

“What’s your name?” Seungmin asked slowly.

 

“Hyun-Hyun-Hyun-” His head jerked with each failed attempt at an answer. Seungmin could easily tell right then: this boy was no boy at all.

 

He was an android.


	2. Two

Seungmin was kind of freaking out for multiple reasons. The primary reason was the fact that there was a hyper-realistic android laying on his dad’s work table.

 

And by hyper-realistic, he meant so detailed it was actually creepy. After finally getting the thing to stop spazzing out (by hitting it over the head which he felt somewhat guilty about) it just froze. Seungmin and Jeongin had settled themselves enough to where they made the rational decision to move it to the basement, at least. There was obviously something wrong, but he didn’t really know what.

 

Spending a few hours poking and prodding, he was able to discover jack shit since he couldn’t even figure out how to get inside of the thing. There were no panels to open or screws present in any way, shape, or form. Whatever tech was in this thing, it was hidden well and with a purpose. Almost like the creator didn’t want people to know this was a machine. The only thing they discovered was that he was from Miroh Tech, the biggest technology company in the city.

 

It had been monopolizing the market for all things android and had transversed past what anyone had perceived innovation to be able to achieve when it came to android technology. The fact that the company stamp was imprinted on the back of his neck explained a lot.

 

“I’ve never seen something this advanced,” he told Jeongin as he surveyed the body closely. “All the androids on the market are easily discernable as such. This guy is so realistic, it’s like someone made a copy of a person. How many androids have you seen with throwaway details like moles and stuff?” He points out the mole that sits just beneath the android’s left eye.

 

“And his hair. It’s super soft, not like the synthetic barbie doll stuff on other robots.”

 

“Well, maybe… uh…” Seungmin looked over to the younger who had trailed off.

 

“What’s wrong?” He looked back to the android only to be startled by the fact that he was not only sitting up but also looking directly at them.

 

“He’s awake again.” Jeongin stage whispered.

 

“Yes, thanks for the info, Innie.”

 

He stared blankly at the other two boys, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He rubbed at his eyes like a tired child that had just woken from slumber. It would have been cute in any other situation, but right now Seungmin was just trying to figure out what on earth he was supposed to do with this thing.

 

“Are you… friends of Hyung?” were his first words. He said ‘Hyung’ as if it were someone’s name and not a title.

 

“Uh…” Jeongin spoke in confusion. “No? We kind of- well, we found you.”

 

“Found?” Seungmin is a little on edge as the thing stares at them, his gaze piercing and hyper-focused.

 

“Like… discovered. We came upon you. Do you remember how you got here?”

 

“Hyung said we were gonna see the lights.” He replies. “Is this where we see them?”

 

Seungmin was more than confused at this point and Jeongin seemed to be feeling the same way if the awkward face he was making had anything to say about it.

 

“I mean, there are lights here. We could shine a flashlight in your face if that’ll make you happy.”

 

“Look,” Seungmin interrupts. “Do you remember who you are or how you got here? Anything other than you going to see the lights or whatever?”

 

“I’m Hyunjin.”

 

A name. That usually meant that an android had been owned and the owner had personalized it already. Most likely this ‘Hyung’ character that he mentioned.

 

“Well hey, we will try to find your hyung for you and in the meantime, we will take care of you.”

 

“Yeah, we- wait, what?” Seungmin didn’t know what was going through Jeongin’s mind at the moment. Perhaps a quick lapse in judgment.

 

“Oh, silly me.” See, a lapse in judgment. “Seungmin hyung will take care of you. I can’t be over here all the time.” Apparently, this was more than a quick lapse in judgment, it was a prolonged one.

 

“I’m sorry, since when did _we_ decide that he was staying here?”

 

“Since he showed up at your house and finders keepers.”

 

“We both found him!”

 

“I’m hungry.”

 

Both boys stopped, all traces of an argument dying on their tongues. They looked over at Hyunjin who stared back at them expectantly. Hungry? How could that even be possible? Maybe he had been programmed to crave some type of oil or something or other, but there was no way he was actually hungry.

 

* * *

 

So, he was very hungry. Hungry for actual food at that. After getting over the initial weirdness of the android craving food, the two boys shrugged it off and decided to head upstairs to get him food. They were all the way in the kitchen when they realized that there remained two of them rather than three. When going back to check, Seungmin looked down the steps to see Hyunjin at the bottom, staring down at the first step like he was waiting for it to answer a question he had asked.

 

“Uh… you okay there?”

 

Hyunjin looked up at him, plump lips turned down in a pout.

 

“What are these?” he whimpered. It was as though he were a scared puppy that didn’t understand the idea of stairs. To put it simply, getting him out of the basement was something Seungmin would be happy not to go through ever again.

 

Once he was settled in the kitchen, Seungmin and Jeongin had gone through several items in the kitchen, and none of them stuck except peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. At the mention of sandwiches, he had lit up like a Christmas tree. After getting through the first one, he ate three more. All of them went down without mention of a malfunction or any such error message. Seungmin could only watch with wide eyes, mouth open like a venus flytrap.

 

Hyunjin stared back at him and mimicked his face with a chuckle. A chuckle! Now he was laughing!

 

“What is this game?” Hyunjin mumbled incoherently with his mouth open.

 

Jeongin could only coo at his cuteness while Seungmin malfunctioned at the illogical existence of this humanoid thing.

 

“I need to go to bed. I need to rethink my entire life.” Seungmin sighed, ready to head up to his room.

 

“Oh, bed! I’m ready for bed.” Hyunjin hops up from his chair. Seungmin looked him over. He had cleaned the dirt smudges and such off of him, but his tattered clothing remained.

 

“Almost. I’m sure Jeongin will lend you clothes when he takes you home with him.”

 

“I’m not even going home tonight.”

 

“Ugh, I know, I just don’t wanna drag him up any more stairs!” he whines. After he did get Hyunjin up the second flight of stairs (a bit easier this time, but still fearful) he took him to his parent’s room where he went through some of his dad’s stuff to find something for him to wear.

 

“You’re way tall, so my stuff won’t do.”

 

“Yeah, hyung is short.” Jeongin laughed. Hyunjin, of course, echoed like a fucking parrot.

 

“Hyung is short. Does that mean this is Hyung for you?”

 

“Yeah, hyung is just what you call older guys you’re close to. You look older than me, you’re probably my hyung too.”

 

Hyunjin gasped, covering his mouth dramatically like he had witnessed something insane. “ _I_ am Hyung?”

 

“You are Hyung.” Jeongin chuckles, poking Hyunjin’s nose with a little ‘boop’. Hyunjin copies him, doing it back to Jeongin. Seungmin watches on, eyes narrowed as he watched incredulously. Hyunjin looks over at him, slowly extending his finger as if to boop Seungmin as well. He acts like he’s going to bite the other which makes him retract his finger quickly.

 

Eventually, seungmin manages to find a large sweatshirt for the other which, though it slips off his shoulders every now and then, fits better than any of his shirts would. He lends him some of his own basketball shorts and promptly heads into his room and collapses face first in his bed with a groan. He felt a presence flop down on either side of him, but he didn’t have the energy to kick them out of his bed.

 

Too much had happened too late in the day and he just needed to sleep this off and think things through in the morning. It wasn’t long before sleep pulled him into unconsciousness.

 

* * *

 

By the time Seungmin was able to force his eyes open, the light streaming in through his windows was bright enough to tell him that it was late morning. It took all the effort inside him to roll over onto his back and stretch, yawning all the while. As he completed his sheet angel (as his mother liked to call it, the bed equivalent of a snow angel), he realized the absence of any sort of form on either side of him.

 

Any sleepiness hanging over his head disappeared in an instant as he sprang from his bed. “Hyunjin?” he whispered as if he expected the other to be hiding in his room somewhere. “Hyunjin” he called a bit louder as he poked all around the upstairs. Considering the weird response the other had to the stairs last night, he could only imagine what type of trouble he could get himself into wandering around the house alone.

 

Seungmin almost tumbled down the stairs as he practically propelled himself down them. He was ready to tear through the house if he needed to, but that was deemed unnecessary when he heard two familiar sets of laughter coming from the kitchen. He furrowed his eyebrows, following the sound to find his mother cooking and none other than Hyunjin sitting at the island in the center.

 

“Oh! Good morning, sleepyhead.” His mother greeted, laughter still present in her tone. “Nice of you to join us finally at 10 30 am. I found your poor friend poking around mumbling about sandwiches or something, so I’m making a proper breakfast.”

 

“Where did Jeongin go?” He questioned as he climbed into the seat beside Hyunjin whose eyes he felt boring into his skull. He didn’t think Jeongin would just leave him alone like that.

 

“I’m not sure. He must have left earlier, maybe he had something to do.” She shrugged. Something to do, yeah right. He was just ridding himself of the responsibility of taking care of Hyunjin: an actual man baby, as it was turning out.

 

Seungmin finally looked over at the other who looked right back, a goofy smile full of big teeth and spreading on to his face. His eyes smiled along as well as if they didn’t want his mouth to be lonely.

 

“Why are you smiling at me?” he mumbled.

 

“Thought it might make you happier.”

 

“It’s creepy.”

 

“Should I make a face like you, then?” His face becomes one akin to a sneer, a stark contrast from his joyful grin.

 

“I am not making that face.”

 

“You’re doing it right now!” He points at him as if Seungmin could see his own face. “Why do I make you do that? It’s not pretty. You’re pretty when you don’t do that, Hyung Seungmin.”

 

Seungmin was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to respond to that exactly? What on earth had he called him? Why were his cheeks burning?

 

“You okay, honey?” His mother was looking at him with a knowing smirk that made him want to actually die.

 

“Perfectly fine, thank you.”

 

“Mhm. Hyunjin, dear, why don’t you go wash your hands for breakfast?”

 

“Okie dokie Mom Seungmin.” He cheerfully leaves his chair and walks straight into the pantry. He walks back out seconds later, chuckling awkwardly. “Wrong bathroom.” he mumbles before going into the right door.

 

Seungmin’s mother laughs at the scene as Seungmin himself tries to figure out why he found that somewhat endearing rather than annoying like everything else he’s done as of now which isn’t much yet he has a complete and utter dislike for this dude who has shown up and impeded on his space and stolen his mother-

 

“Okay, your friend is so adorable! Why have I not met him before, is he new?” comes his mother’s voice, hushed and excited.

 

“Uh, yeah. You could say that.”

 

“He’s so funny. He has a very quirky way of speaking, he must be new to the city in general, hm?”

 

“Practically an alien.” He scoffed.

 

“Why is he wearing your father’s old sweatshirt, also? And what exactly did he say to you that had you blushing like that.”

 

“He-I- huh?”

 

Before he could respond to the smug smile on his mom’s face, Hyunjin came back, wiping his hands on his shirt to dry them. He noticed Seungmin watching and winked at him, a smile curling onto his face. Damn him and his winking and his smiles (which were far too innocent looking for someone with a hidden agenda like he obviously had, thank you very much). There was no way this situation would end well.

 

* * *

 

 

Just Seungmin's luck, it was the weekend. That meant that he got to spend two, long days with Hyunjin at his home with nothing to do with him. After eating breakfast, his mother had left them alone downstairs (her smug face ever-present as she went upstairs) and he didn't know what to do. So, he did what he did best: he thought. He went over everything in his mind that he had found out about Hyunjin. Hyunjin, this young, humanoid being who seems to be exceedingly curious about his surroundings and barely interested in figuring out where he belongs. This random guy who showed up on his porch in tattered clothing with a Miroh Tech marking on his neck. This guy who is unfairly handsome for an android who won't stop fucking staring at him-

 

"Why are you always looking at me like that?" he huffs in frustration.

 

"I'm waiting for you to say something. You look like you're thinking really hard about what you wanna say."

 

We can add creepily perceptive to the list. Seungmin shook his head and sighed. "I just find it weird that you were left alone in that state without any hint of who you are or what I'm supposed to do with you. And you don't remember which is greatly unhelpful." Hyunjin began to bite at his lip as if he were a little nervous about something. This might have been the first time he wasn't staring at Seungmin like a weirdo and his relief was great enough for him to ignore Hyunjin's weird mannerism. "I don't think I can really figure this out alone. I might have to get some help."

 

"Help? From who? Do you know more Hyung's?" he asked excitedly.

 

"Yeah. And they are going to love this I'm sure." He looks over at the other, pursing his lips as he comes up with a game plan in his head. "Alright, I guess for now I'll just have to incorporate you into my life."

 

"Don't sound too excited." Hyunjin tells him, holding his hands up as if to calm Seungmin's utterly unexcited tone. For once, Seungmin was actually amused by the other.

 

He missed the shy smile that graced Hyunjin's lips in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Second chapter with a bit more Hyunjin. I'm still trying to figure out how I want to write him so if he comes off as kind of weird and empty or something, that's my bad lol. Hopefully, the story will get better as it progresses, I'm not great at beginnings. Next chapter, the others will meet Hyunjin and the story will pick up 👌


	3. Three

“Oh God, you really do need my help!” Minho walked around Hyunjin, face contorting at the sight of his clothes. “The first thing we need to do for this poor kid is give him a makeover. Your face says model, but your clothes say hobo.”

 

“Okay, the clothes are a given. How am I supposed to actually integrate him into society?” Seungmin was already starting to regret asking the others for help. Once Seungmin had arrived with Hyunjin at their meeting point in the park, all they had done so far is coo over him and poke and prod at him and completely ignore Seungmin. Woojin had claimed him as his son and Minho made him a hoe in training and Seungmin really hated his friends sometimes.

 

“I mean, he seems pretty normal.” Felix spoke up. Seungmin didn’t know where he had gotten that notion. 

 

“He stopped and stared at a bird for ten minutes on the way here because he had never seen one before.”

 

“Um… maybe just make sure he doesn’t do stuff like that.” he shrugs. “Let him explore for a bit and get it all out and then maybe he’ll just mellow out enough to be considered normal.”

Seungmin thought maybe it was their best bet at this point. But as they all sat around on their blanket in the middle of the park and watched the subject of the conversation run and jump around with Jeongin and Jisung a little too excitedly, he felt like there was no way this course of action would work out.

 

Jisung ran back over panting, carrying Hyunjin’s lanky body on his back. Seungmin was glad to see his friends were completely whipped for this random dude that just showed up in their lives. He himself felt quite conflicted about his presence. He was troubled, panicked, confused. He had never really been good with surprises.

 

“What is up with you and him, hm?” Chan asked from where he lay, head in Woojin’s lap. 

 

Seungmin looked over at him in confusion. 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, he seems to be the bane of your existence even though he just seems like a sweet kid and nothing else.”

 

Apparently, this is what everyone seemed to think, including Hyunjin and excluding his own mother. He didn’t know why. Maybe he was just… he couldn’t even put a name to his emotions. Watching the boy laugh his goofy laugh and smile like a freak warmed his heart, but the warmth that wanted to spread to his entire body was suppressed by something else and he didn’t know what.

 

“I dunno. He just gives me a weird feeling.” When Seungmin looks over and sees the same weird, knowing smile on Chan’s face that he had seen on his mother, he starts to feel less annoyed and more like he might be missing something. The thought left his head as he felt someone lay their head on his lap. He looked down to see none other than the bane of his existence.

 

“Is this normal for you guys?” He asks curiously. “I like this.” He looks up at Seungmin and he sees nothing but happiness in his eyes. Nothing sinister or secretive. He just seems pure and trusting. Perhaps he could get used to him. Maybe for once, things wouldn’t fall apart like he always expected spontaneous courses of action to do. Who really cared about all that because while this train of thought sailed through his mind, Seungmin’s fingers had found Hyunjin’s thick bangs and were combing through them happily.

 

He suddenly realized and yanked his hand away, chancing a glance down at the other. Why was Hyunjin staring at him with those eyes? Those dumb pretty eyes.

 

Seungmin pushed him off his lap, standing up. He coughs awkwardly as everyone else was suddenly watching him. “Can we go get him some clothes now? He’s dressed like my dad and it’s throwing me off.”

 

“Uh-huh, you look real thrown off.” Minho rolled his eyes and stood up. The others do the same, stretching out their limbs.

 

“Do I have to come to this shopping spree if I won’t be utilized?” Changbin asked as they began to walk off. “I doubt I can give any real pointers here.”

 

“What do you mean, you have started dressing way better recently!” Minho assured him.

 

“Felix picks my clothes for me.”

 

“Ah, right. You can go home.”

 

“Uh, no. Come just for fun, Binnie.” Felix pouts, begging the other with puppy dog eyes.

 

Changbin obviously couldn’t resist, his ears tinting bright red as Felix takes his hand and continues pulling him along. Seungmin looked from them over to Hyunjin who was obviously observing, head tilted as though he were taking in information. It seemed that he did take in information and learn things all the time.

 

Seungmin just hoped he didn’t pick this up and start trying to do that stuff.

 

* * *

There are many things that came up during the day that Seungmin didn’t account for. The first being that he didn’t expect Hyunjin to look so unbearably adorable in an oversized sweater tucked into a pair of jeans. They had got him a bunch of basic outfits, styled mainly by Minho and Felix. Lots of oversized sweaters and button downs. Lots of form-fitting jeans and colorful belts. And several pairs of converse.

 

All paid for by Changbin and monitored by Chan and Woojin. Seungmin once thought them responsible, but they are also the ones who had Hyunjin try on leather pants as if that was even necessary! Seungmin had hated every moment of it and his reaction only caused his friends to make fun of him much to his annoyance and Hyunjin’s confusion.

 

The second thing Seungmin didn’t account for was how good Hyunjin would look with a fresh haircut. Once they did finally brush his hair out, his bangs had been obnoxiously long, falling into his eyes and obscuring his vision more times than not. They took him to the barber for his own good considering how clumsy he was turning out to be (Seungmin tries not to think about the fear he felt seeing the boy trip over his own feet and almost fall off the second story balcony of the mall). With a new styled haircut, Seungmin had a full view of Hyunjin’s expressive eyes.

 

He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

 

“Do I look good, Hyung Seungmin?” he asks with a wink and a smirk that should be illegal. Obviously having him around his friends was a terrible idea.

 

“Stop corrupting him!” Seungmin groaned as he marched out of the barbershop to the chorus of his friend’s laughter.

 

The third thing Seungmin hadn’t accounted for is how exactly the living situation would work out. Obviously, his parents could not find out that he had a boy that they had just met in their house every night. He didn’t think his parents would really go for having a second son at such short notice.

 

As he led the other boy home with all his bags of new clothes and such, he really didn’t have an idea of how he was going to pull this off without getting caught. Hyunjin, of course, didn’t offer any ideas as he was too enraptured by his surroundings to really offer anything up. He waved at every person they passed, stared a little too long at the mannequins in the windows, cooed at every dog or cat.

 

“You don’t get out much, do you?” Seungmin asked, drawing Hyunjin’s attention. “What exactly was your life like before?”

 

“Uh…” He trailed off as he thought. The smile that had occupied his face like it was a vacant hotel room disappeared for the first time all day. “I-I don’t really- I mean… it wasn’t much of a life, really.” He mumbled in admittance. Seungmin could see the trouble behind his eyes- behind the way his eyebrows furrowed and he shrunk in on himself almost.

 

He didn’t know what had happened. He was keeping in way more than Seungmin would have initially thought. He couldn’t do anything about whatever had happened then, but he could try to help him feel better now. Maybe help him forget? 

 

He didn’t know what came over him. Perhaps it was the sense of responsibility he felt and his inherent want to see the other okay. He extended his hand for the other boy to take.

 

Hyunjin looked down at it, taking it slowly as if hesitant to agree to whatever this offering meant. Seungmin didn’t know exactly why, but he was happy that the other accepted.

 

“We’ll help you out. I don’t really know how or what we really need to do to help, but we’ll help you.” Seungmin tells him. “I promise.” He looked up at Hyunjin who only smiled back.

 

For someone who shouldn’t have emotions, he sure smiled a lot.

 

* * *

Once they had finally arrived home is when Seungmin had really gone into a bit of a panicked state. What was he to do? Just hide him until his parents went to bed and then sneak him into his room?

 

No hiding place in the house was really reliable. His mom would poke around his room sometimes so he couldn’t just hide in there all day. His dad practically lived in the basement, so he couldn’t hide him down there. Hyunjin watched Seungmin with a worried expression as he had paced the kitchen for about ten minutes.

 

“Hyung Seungmin, I could just find somewhere-”

 

“No, I will not send you out there alone to just find somewhere to stay. And you can just call me Seungmin, you know? I don’t even know if I’m older than you.”

 

“Seungmin…” He barely listened. He didn’t know why this was grating on him so. He just feared the moment his parents find out he’s housing an android behind their backs and they take him away and send him back to whatever place he was held in before living his ‘not a life’ life and- suddenly he was being hugged.

 

His head was pressed against someone’s chest, arms wrapped around his torso. He heard someone’s quick beating heart and, for a moment, thought it was his own reverberating through his ears. But he felt it pounding against his head. The very quick, very strong, very real heartbeat of Hyunjin. Hyunjin: the android that definitely should not have a heartbeat.

 

Many thoughts ran through Seungmin’s mind in that moment. Several different reactions spread out in his mind and wove themselves into a spider web of options. A voice in his head, another part of him that was rising up inside told him what to do. Told him to push the other away, abort mission, close yourself off. This is beyond your understanding.

 

He knew that was wrong, though. And despite the fact that he didn’t understand, he embraced it. He embraced his lack of understanding, he embraced his fear, he embraced Hyunjin.

 

And he knew it was the right choice.

 

He wrapped his arms around the other boy’s thin frame. He took in his scent, surprisingly void of the familiar metallic smell of androids and replaced by that of a fresh bed of flowers. He listened to his heartbeat and it soothed him more than pacing about the house like a mad man ever could.

 

“You-- You feel better?” he sounded almost surprised it had worked and it made Seungmin laugh.

 

“Yes.” he assured him. “Um… thank you.” He pulled away, hesitantly tilting his head up to look into Hyunjin’s eyes. He expected the same smug face he would see from Minho or a shit-eating grin like Jeongin. But he just looked genuinely surprised and delighted that he could be helpful.

 

Seungmin couldn’t deny the fact that his reaction was kind of adorable, but he had more important things to think about right now.

 

“I’ve got an idea.”

 

He pulled out his phone and opened the group chat. Hyunjin’s eyes widened at the little device.

 

“The small friend box!” He yelped, backing away quickly until he clumsily bumped into the counter.

 

“What?” Seungmin giggled at his strange reaction.

 

“Hyung Minho said you use the box to trap your friends!”

 

“How did he explain the fact that he was hanging out with his friends? Or that I’ve been with you this whole time?”

 

“He… he said you’re his mom, not his friend.”

 

Seungmin rolled his eyes at the answer. “Just don’t listen to Minho hyung, alright?”

 

_ Seung  _ to  **Gay Nation:**

 

_ Seung _

Yo, so like… could yall do me a favor

 

_ bbchangbin _

Depends

Do we get money??

 

_ Minhoe _

^^^^^^

retweet

 

_ Seung _

>:(

 

Hyunjin begins to inch closer as he watches the other text. Seungmin can feel him eventually pressing up against his back to lean over and look at the screen. He would have to teach him about boundaries later once he got his heart to go back down from his throat into his chest.

 

“What is Gay Nation?”

 

“A bunch of assholes.” he huffs.

 

_ Seung _

It involves hyunjin

 

_ Mylilfox _

Why didnt u say soooo

 

_ bbchangbin _

For jinnie, my services are free

 

_ Seung _

idk how to feel bout that

but anyway

I need yall to take turns having him over so my parents dont get suspicious

 

_ Mommabear _

I call first dibs

I wanna teach him how to make good chicken wings

 

“Do you like chicken?” he asks the other boy, looking up at him curiously.

 

“Well… what is chicken?”

 

_ Seung _

yea, have fun teaching him what that is

 

Seungmin put his phone down and sighed. 

 

“I hope you like having a sleepover every night.” he pats Hyunjin on the back before heading to go make some food. “So, you really haven’t ever had chicken? What did you used to eat?”

 

“Hyung brought me kimchi and rice sometimes. I mostly just ate sandwiches, though. He said it was the easiest to make and the supplies lasted a long time.” he explains. “I want to try new things! Like that hot bread Mother Seungmin made in that pan.”

 

“You mean pancakes?”

 

“Yes! Super yum. We should have those right now.”

 

“How about ramen with shrimp?”

 

“Oh, what’s that?”

 

“You’ll see.”

 

* * *

Seungmin was surprised to say that he had a good time with the other boy. He had watched eagerly as he made ramen for the both of them. He had eaten it faster than Seungmin thought humanly possible (and complained about having a stomach ache later because of it). Following that, he had gotten the other boy ready for bed and they had just settled on the couch when his parents walked in.

 

“Honey, we’re home!” His father called from the door. He walked into the living room before Seungmin could give a response and his eyes widened when he saw two boys rather than just one. “Oh, hello.”

 

“Hey Dad, uh… this is Hyunjin.” he gestures to the other.

 

Hyunjin smiled and waved at the man. “Hi, Dad!”

 

Seungmin tried to smile through the situation, hoping his dad would just take it as a joke. The light chuckle his dad produced definitely calmed him.

 

“Hi, son. Haven’t met you before, you new around here?”

 

“Oh, yeah.” Seungmin interrupts. “He just moved here not too long ago.”

 

“Hey, Hyunjin is back. Hi sweetie!” Came his mother’s voice from behind his father. She waved at the other who waved back. “Hi, Mother Seungmin.”

 

She laughed at his weird name for her. “He’s just the cutest thing.” She comments as she walks off to store the groceries she had just bought. “Come help me with these, Mr. Kim.”

 

“Yes, Mrs. Kim.” He sighed dramatically as he followed her to the kitchen. Seungmin chuckled at them. He strived for a relationship like theirs in his life if he were being honest. Their level of compatibility seems almost unreal to him.

 

He turned back to Hyunjin who was staring as usual.

 

“What?”

 

“I just… I like seeing you smile.” he mumbled, almost shy about it seemingly.

 

Seungmin bit his lip in thought before responding. “I-I like when you smile, too.” Vulnerability, not good. Time to change the subject. “Anyway,” he started before the other could say anything. “What movie should we watch?”

 

* * *

Seungmin could not sleep. He had watched a movie with the other boy, successfully moving past the awkward moment they had formed together. They had enjoyed it a lot, actually. Seungmin had discovered that Hyunjin had only been allowed to watch the same few movies over and over which is just a travesty.

 

The other had been quite invested, responding animatedly to every crazy instance they had seen. There was quite a bit of those in an action movie. Once they had finished, though, all the energy Hyunjin had seemed to have vanished. Seungmin’s parents had long gone to bed, so there was barely any trouble getting the other upstairs and into his room. He had gotten him all ready, setting out pajamas for him and getting him a toothbrush to brush his teeth.

 

Once he had changed, brushed, and used the bathroom (another thing Seungmin hadn’t known about), he had collapsed into Seungmin’s bed and drifted off easily.

 

Seungmin had slid into his bed beside him and, now that his head had touched down, he couldn’t imagine sleeping. Instead, he stared at Hyunjin as best he could in the darkness of his bedroom. He had never seen his features so relaxed. His lips had settled into a sort of pout as he had fallen asleep and it was probably the cutest thing Seungmin had ever seen.

 

He carefully reached over and used his fingers to brush the other boy’s soft hair out of his face. He ran his fingers over the soft skin of his cheek. For once, he wasn’t so hesitant toward the other. He felt drawn to him in a weird way that he couldn’t explain. Perhaps a sense of protectiveness toward the other is what he felt. He just looked and acted so innocent all the time.

 

He was basically as ignorant to the world as a sheltered child.

 

Perhaps he felt obligation or fascination.

 

Neither of these things explained why the thought of Hyunjin’s smile filled him with warmth or why he wanted to run his fingers through his hair all hours of the day. Though he tried to actively deny these truths, covering them with sarcasm and annoyance toward the other, he could only suffocate them for so long. It seemed that this time period was ending.

 

Seungmin eventually drifted off, Hyunjin’s sweet smile on his mind.


	4. Four

Hyunjin had dimples. They were subtle and rare, unlike Innie’s, but just as cute. Seungmin found this out at school on Monday as he watched him eat. It was a very nice sight to see, very calming after the stress of this morning. Most of it was centered around one question: how was he going to get Hyunjin into school? Obviously, he couldn’t just stroll in with a new student. Telling his teachers that his cousin had just enrolled and somehow had all the same classes was faulty for two reasons. One, there is no way he would get all the same classes. Two, he hadn’t enrolled him. They would be looking for him on the rosters, and he would never be there. It seemed the only solution would be to enroll him, but other students can’t enroll a student. He would need parents. In case it was still a mystery, Hyunjin was parentless.

 

Choosing to gather before school to discuss a plan, Seungmin met his friends in the courtyard down the street from school along with a visibly exhausted Hyunjin.

 

“Not used to waking up early, hm?” Felix laughed at Hyunjin’s drooping eyelids and ruffled his hair.

 

Not used to it, indeed. It had been incredibly difficult to get him out of bed. Not to mention, Seungmin had to take extra measures to make sure he didn’t seem suspicious. He hid the Miroh Tech marking on his neck with some of his mother’s makeup and tried as best he could to tell him what kind of things not to say to other people (though he doubts Hyunjin retained any of it since he was basically sleepwalking the whole way).

 

“So, what do we do? Just… pretend he’s a shadow or something? That wouldn’t really work for very long.”

 

“Are you sure we can’t just enroll him?” Minho groans. “I’m not in the mood for this James Bond shit.”

 

“Do you have a birth certificate for him? Or proof of residency or parents?”

 

“Okay, chill. You’re at a twelve, I need you at a two. Let him shadow you. Say he’s a foreign exchange student, works all the time on TV.”

 

“Won’t his teachers eventually wonder about him and ask the office about exchange students or something?” Innie questions.

 

“Not to mention, he’s Korean so not really foreign.”

 

“I can just not speak.”

 

They were surprised at Hyunjin’s sudden input. He rarely said much when they were discussing him. Seungmin suddenly felt kind of guilty about it. He would feel terribly awkward if people sat around talking about him as if he weren’t there. As if he were just an object.

 

“Or I could be American. I know English!”

 

Seungmin sighed. This plan seemed incredibly faulty and stupid and like it definitely would not last long term, but it got them through the day, all the way up until the lunch period. To say he was surprised was an understatement. Either way, he was starting to calm down. He was watching Hyunjin eat when he noticed how his chewing revealed cute, dime-sized dimples in his cheeks. If anyone asked, he would say he was staring in fascination with Hyunjin’s ability to eat as an android. No one needed to know the truth.

 

“How can you actually eat that stuff?” Woojin questioned Hyunjin as the other boy scarfed down his school provided lunch.

 

“After eating sandwiches and kimchi every day for years, you can say I’m not really picky.”

 

“Oh no, I’ll make a food critic out of you yet.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Me, sweetie. It’s me.” Woojin tsks, shaking his head. “So much to learn.”

 

Hyunjin simply continues to eat, looking a bit lost.

 

“What kind of stuff did they teach you where you came from, dude?” Changbin questions him as he shoves an entire boiled egg in his mouth from his ramen.

 

“Did they teach you anything where you came from, Changbin?” Minho retorted to everyone’s amusement, sans Changbin. Felix gave him a quick kiss which wiped the pout off his face pretty quickly.

 

Everyone’s laughter died down as a girl approached, seemingly out of nowhere. Seungmin recognized her as Serim from his Calculus class. He watched with narrowed eyes as she came up behind Hyunjin and tapped him on the shoulder. Hyunjin turned to look up at her. Seungmin already didn’t like where this was going.

 

“Hi, uh… Hyunjin, right?”

Hyunjin nods.

 

“My friend wanted me to give this to you.” She hands him an envelope sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. “Don’t open it until I leave.” She walks off, winking in his direction.

 

“What the fuck?” Seungmin broke the following silence.

 

Hyunjin turned back to the table and opened the envelope. Inside was a little note from Jisu, also in calculus, asking Hyunjin to go out.

 

“What does she mean ‘go out’? Aren’t we already out?” He looks up at the others who just laugh at him. Seungmin grabs the letter from the other and shoves it into his bag.

 

“Yes. I dunno what she means.”

 

“Woah there, jealous are we?” Minho asks him. “You aren’t even gonna let him have a chance with her?”

 

“What’s she going to do with him? He probably won’t even be here for long enough to go out with her three times!”

 

“Is it about that, or do you just not _want_ him to go out with her?”

 

“Why would I care about that?”

 

“What-What’s happening, exactly?”

 

“You’re hot, Jinnie Hyung.” Jeongin shrugs, sipping his water.

 

“I’m actually kinda cold.”

 

“Oh my god.” Seungmin shakes his head. He wasn’t jealous, of course not. Not of the fact that Hyunjin had been here for two minutes and gotten a confession while Seungmin had known these people his entire life and some of them still didn’t even know his name. Not of the fact that someone wanted to go out with Hyunjin. Hyunjin was his… responsibility. He didn’t need him getting into trouble chasing girls around and stuff.

 

The bell rang and Seungmin grabbed Hyunjin by the hand, pulling him from his chair immediately and dragging him, stumbling, to his next class. Didn’t need any of those girls coming up to him for a follow-up. He didn’t notice the others watching them go with knowing and amused looks.

 

* * *

 

This whole thing was working out far too well. In the following days, he and Hyunjin made it through school without an issue. Those girls didn’t even come up to him asking about his decision. Seungmin hadn’t seen the way they watched in slight surprise and acceptance as he dragged Hyunjin around by the hand or how he ruffles the other boy’s hair with a fond look in his eyes.

 

Either way, they made it through the week. Hyunjin rotated who he went home with afterschool and none of their parents were asking many questions. Friday had finally come and it was Changbin’s turn to take him. They decided to make is a sleepover with all of them since ‘Changbin is loaded and they needed to take advantage of that while they could,’ in the words of Minho. Seungmin held Hyunjin’s hand as they made their way into Changbin’s house Friday night, barely thinking about the action at this point.

 

They all settled on the couch, snacks already set out by Changbin’s wonderful mother. Woojin had sat beside Seungmin and pulled Hyunjin into his lap as if he were a small child.

 

“So, this is my house as you all know,” Changbin said as he stood before them. “In my house, we play by my rules. I’m going to put on pajamas and you all will too because I don’t want to feel like a weirdo. And I don’t care how much you guys complain, we will play Dance Dance Revolution. Suck my dick.”

 

“Gladly.”

 

“Minho, what the fuck!”

 

“Shh, I love you Sungie.”

 

So they all took turns changing in the downstairs bathroom. But of course, something had to happen. It only made sense that Seungmin had the worst luck in the world. It only made sense that he would forget to pack Hyunjin some pajamas to wear to a _sleepover_ of all things. How could anyone be more stupid?

 

“It’s fine, he can just borrow some of my clothes.” Changbin offered because of course he did. So what none of his clothes fit properly on Hyunjin’s tall, gangly frame. So what Seungmin witnesses a bit of midriff if he sits or bends or fucking breathes or moves or even thinks about doing anything. Everything is totally fine.

 

Changbin is the last to return from changing and he immediately goes and turns on the game. He looks over at the others with a smile. “Who’s first?”

 

* * *

 

Four rounds of DDR later and Jisung has wracked up the most points by utilizing a maneuver he refers to as ‘Crazy Legs’.

 

“Y’all should see him use that in bed.” Minho sighs as everyone gags.

 

“Not in front of the children.” Woojin makes a point to bring Felix, Hyunjin, and Jeongin’s heads together and cover the ears of the boy on either end.

 

“Since when am I included in the child thing?” Felix asked.

 

“Since that day you asked Chan what a sub was.”

 

“If you would still like to know, you are definitely a sub, Lix.”

 

“Rude.”

 

“You still don’t know what it means, do you?”

 

“No.”

 

“Okay, I think we should have a special challenge. Hyunjin versus Jisung.” Changbin pipes up, promptly changing the subject. “Crazy legs versus awkward legs.”

 

Seungmin watched Hyunjin pull himself off of Woojin, complete lack of hesitance behind his eyes. He could tell why as soon as they started. Hyunjin seemed to secretly be the best person to ever play this game. Seungmin watched with wide eyes as he not only followed the arrows perfectly, but he actually made it into a genuine dance rather than just sporadic movements. It was somewhat hypnotic to watch him. Exceedingly intriguing and engaging.

 

From where Seungmin sat, he could see the boy’s face change. From the usual goofy grin to one full of charisma and genuine enjoyment. He was passionate about it, he could tell. The song eventually came to an end and their scores were displayed onscreen.

 

Hyunjin received an A, Jisung a B.

 

As soon as they stepped off the dance pads, Hyunjin’s entire visage changed. The others were staring at him in awe, including Seungmin, and Hyunjin only giggled shyly. Fucking giggled.

 

“Jinnie Hyung, where did you learn to dance like that!?” Jeongin asked, just as aghast as everyone else.

 

“Yeah, that was amazing! It’s only DDR, that was insane!” Seungmin added on.

 

Hyunjin did this thing when he was embarrassed or shy. This adorable thing where he let out a high pitched laugh, shaking his hands and his head as if to shake off any compliments. He was almost hiding behind his arms as he did so and it was probably the cutest thing Seungmin had ever seen other than Jeongin.

 

“I just… I-I got bored a lot when I was at home. So I started to dance around. Hyung would download music for me and stuff. I never got real lessons, though. I’m not that good.”

 

“You’re amazing,” Seungmin said. Hyunjin met his eyes, a blush creeping up his face to the tips of his ears. Seungmin smiled at him and Hyunjin looked down at the floor, a smile hidden by his bangs. Thinking back on it, Seungmin wasn’t sure if he was still talking about Hyunjin’s dancing when he said that.

 

* * *

 

One Lord of the Rings movie marathon later, most everyone is asleep. Woojin looked like the mom friend he was, holding Jeongin on his lap while Jisung rested his head on his broad shoulder. Minho, in turn, rested his head in Jisung’s lap and Chan was on the other side of Woojin. Hyunjin was laid out at the end since he was so long and Felix and Changbin had taken an air mattress on the floor. It would have been a cute sight except Seungmin just so happened to have the loudest group of sleepers for friends ever.

 

Jisung snored, Minho made little weird, whimpering noises, Hyunjin mumbled things. Chan sang, which only made sense. Seungmin gave up trying to sleep after laying on the other end of the couch staring up at the ceiling for an hour and a half. Being the last to sleep was never fun.

 

He sighed, sitting up and stretching before rising off the couch carefully. He grabbed Changbin’s slippers from by the door and walked out to the balcony. The best part about Changbin’s house was definitely the view. Seungmin settled into one of the porch chairs and looked out over the glittering city.

 

It was interesting to see. The city always seemed to be hustling and bustling, all through the night. Everyone was doing their own thing. Changbin, having parents that were loaded up the ass, lived on the top floor of one of the most expensive buildings in the heart of the city. It looked over everything, including the river, and it had the best view of the star-filled sky that you could ever get. Without being in space, that is.

 

Seungmin could probably sleep better out here than inside. He was actually just about to get a blanket from inside when the sliding door suddenly opened. A familiar tall figure made its way outside carefully, turning and sliding the door closed behind him.

 

“Hey, Jinnie.” Seungmin greeted. He still wasn’t sure whether Hyunjin was actually older than him. He was completely fine with not calling him ‘hyung’, though, especially since he didn’t mention it.

 

“Hey, you okay?” He takes a seat in the chair beside Seungmin.

 

“Couldn’t sleep.” he responded, though he seemed to have lost Hyunjin’s attention as he stared wide-eyed at the city.

 

“The lights,” he mumbled in a hushed tone.

 

Seungmin looked up as Hyunjin did. “Is this what you were talking about?” He looked back over at the other. He remembered he had said something about his hyung taking him to see the lights.

 

Hyunjin stared out for a while. “I spent so much time staring at a poster of this. It hung on my wall, right above my bed. A city skyline with the lights. And the stars.” he explained. “I’ve never seen stars like this.”

 

Seungmin noticed the way the light shined in his eyes. It practically made them glow. They were beautiful. Hyunjin leaned back in his chair, wrapping his arms around his middle.

 

“You cold?” he asks him. Hyunjin nodded. Seungmin waved him over. Being the easily cold person he was, he had packed a sweater to wear to bed. Hyunjin walked over carefully and stared down at Seungmin.

 

“I, uh-”

 

“Just come here.” Seungmin grabs his arm and pulls him into his lap. He wrapped his arms around him easily, trying to warm him up.

 

“You’re kinda small.”

 

“You’re kinda tall, jerk.” He pouted.

 

“Don’t pout. It’s not as cute as Innie’s pout.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“You want to.”

 

“How did they rub off on you so quickly?” he asked more to himself than the other. It had been about a week and a half and he was already becoming the walking epitome of all his friend’s personalities.

 

Hyunjin only chuckled. He looked down at Seungmin and he looked up. Seungmin felt like they’ve rarely actually interacted. If he were being honest, their interactions were made up of blushing, silent eye contact, awkwardly close contact, and Seungmin being annoyed with his dumb face. So many weird things happened between them over the course of these past eight days, yet he was still drawn to the other.

 

His face became more serious, his sharp and inquisitive eyes slightly hooded by his eyelashes as he looked down at Seungmin. There was always something going on behind those dark eyes. Seungmin could never really tell just what. Perhaps he would never really know. But there was far more to this boy than he let on, he knew that for certain by now.

 

He was increasingly interesting. He felt the same intrigue now that he felt when he watched him dance or even when he first discovered him. The same feeling he has felt every time he saw him smile or watched him discover all the things he had never seen up close before. He felt fondness. He felt caring.

 

He watched as the other scanned over his face. His eyes held the same innocence they’ve always had when they looked upon something new. He was contemplating doing something.

 

The other boy licked his lips and suddenly looked away as if he had panicked. Before Seungmin could stop himself, he reached up and gently turned Hyunjin’s head to look back at him.

 

“Don’t hide.” he tells him.

 

“I-I feel weird. I…”

 

“Me too.” Because, wow. That was one way to describe how he felt ever since meeting this kid. But something else he has done since meeting him was to stop questioning it all. So, he didn’t question it.

 

He cupped Hyunjin’s face and he pulled him in slowly, touching his own lips to his.

 

It was about as nice as he expected and more. His lips were plush and soft. His skin was the same. He feels the other stand still in shock or from lack of experience or whatever it could be. Seungmin was a little caught off guard by it, ready to pull away in embarrassment. Taking chances was not a good idea, obviously.

 

But the other kissed him back.

 

He kissed him back and it was more fulfilling than anything else he had done. Everything felt a bit more clear at that moment. The strange way he felt about the other and the shit-eating smirks from his friends and his mom. But none of that mattered right now. The other wrapped his arms around Seungmin and Seungmin held him by the waist. His thumbs caressed the other boy’s bare hips and he just

 

died.

 

He pulled away slowly, avoiding Hyunjin’s eyes as he did. Hyunjin pulled his chin up, smiling gently. “Don’t hide.”

 

Seungmin laughed softly. Maybe taking chances wasn’t so bad. But Seungmin couldn't help but feel like things were working out far too well. Call him a pessimist, but this just seemed too easy.

 

He couldn't bring himself to think about it too much, though. Not with those eyes staring down at him so fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that heavy foreshadowing? Why yes, yes it was. Because why be subtle, you know? Lol, screw subtlety. Hope you enjoyed, don't forget to leave kudos and criticisms. It makes my day!


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for the late upload, I just was not feeling the writing vibe yesterday. This chapter was also meant to include another scene after the ending part, but I'll just make it the beginning of the next chapter because I am still kind of not feeling it. So, sorry for the short chapter I guess, lol. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Seungmin should have seen it coming. The downfall. Everything had been going so well. In fact, too well. So well that he stopped worrying about the fact that it was all going too well. They had lasted about two weeks after the slumber party. Hyunjin got along well enough at school. He stopped acting so strange about things he had never seen before and he even joined some extracurriculars like the dance team. Felix had, of course, convinced him to do that. Didn’t take too much convincing, but yeah.

 

Their system of having him rotate houses was working alright. At this point, they had to start coming up with more excuses as to why he was over there and then just sneak him into their rooms when their parents went to bed (“Oh, Hyunjin is tutoring me in English” “Hyunjin and I have a project together, we’ll be working late").

 

On top of all that, Seungmin had perhaps come to terms with his growing feelings for the other. Feelings that the others had apparently realized far before he had.

 

The night they kissed, Hyunjin had easily fallen asleep in Seungmin’s lap, his head on Seungmin’s shoulder. Seungmin had, of course, accepted it because wow, so freaking adorable, and fallen asleep as well. He had woken up to find the other gone and stumbled inside to everyone sitting around eating pancakes.

 

“There he is!” Chan called. “Welcome to the world of the living, Boy Handsome.”

 

“Anything you wanna share? From last night perhaps? Beneath the light of the stars?” Minho was wiggling his eyebrows so much, Seungmin wasn’t sure if they had taken on a life of their own or not.

 

“Huh?” Seungmin groaned articulately in his groggy, half-awake state.

 

Hyunjin, previously missing from the living room, came from the kitchen with about five pancakes on his plate and one halfway shoved in his mouth.

 

“Don’t remember? Ask Jinnie, he gave us all the details.”

 

Everyone looked over at him, including Seungmin, causing him to slow in his tracks.

 

“What’d I do?” he mumbled over his mouth full of food.

 

“He told us you kissed on the porch. Can we get past this weird moment now so I can eat in peace?” Jeongin shoved a piece of pancake into his mouth grumpily.

 

That morning there was a lot of teasing on the part of everyone else and a lot of blushing on Seungmin’s. Hyunjin hugged him to make him feel better, which, of course it did. But it also led to more teasing. Then Hyunjin said something about Minho farting in his sleep to explain why he woke up in the first place and that took the attention off him and Seungmin immediately.

 

The downward spiral started on Friday. Kind of ironic it marked the fourth week of Hyunjin’s arrival. Hyunjin had his first recital with the dance team. Seungmin had gotten to be the corny semi-boyfriend or whatever he was that he always wanted to be and get Hyunjin some flowers. He had danced amazingly to no one’s surprise. There was just something about the way he danced that was entrancing.

 

He utilized the length of his limbs perfectly and he always looked so invested in what he was doing. His facial expressions made it all the better. He did this thing, this somewhat tantalizing thing, where he stuck his tongue out every now and then. He didn’t seem to notice when he did it or do it on purpose, but it still hurt. It struck Seungmin in an embarrassing way.

 

He had given Hyunjin his flowers after the recital shyly. Well, after he had gotten over the initial shock of a sweaty Hyunjin whose hair was endearingly messy and performance makeup very dark and distinct and incredibly hot. Hyunjin’s eyes had lit up as he took them. He went to go freshen up along with Felix and the others before they went out on their excursion to the local diner.

 

It had been a nice little outing full of jokes and discussions of the recital.

 

“Okay, but Jaemin? Jeongin, you gotta secure that boy. He looked so good tonight, it was ridiculous!” Jisung said.

 

“Yeah, not like he doesn’t have a blatant crush on you anyway. He probably dedicated that dance to you.” Changbin joked. Jeongin denied that that could be possible, ears bright red with embarrassment as he did.

 

“He-He didn’t. That was… just… well, what about Jinnie Hyung’s dance?” 

 

“What? What was wrong with my dance?”

 

“You looked like you were trying to seduce the entire audience.”

 

“That’s very true.” Woojin agreed. “You guys should have seen Seungmin through all of that. It was gold.”

 

“I think his soul might have left his body.” Jisung added. “But no one could top my baby Minho. You killed it tonight, hottie.”

 

“I always do, thanks for noticing.”

 

Things went on like this until they had all eaten and the exhaustion of the day set in. They decided it was time to go when Felix literally fell asleep at the table with a spoon in his mouth. Only after Changbin took a picture of the other and set it has his phone wallpaper did they wake the other and take their leave from the diner. 

 

They all exchanged goodbyes and went their separate directions. 

 

This is when things always seemed to take a turn for the worse: walking home from somewhere.

 

Seungmin felt uneasy walking home, as usual, but especially so tonight. They could only stay on the main roads for so long before they had to turn down an alley to get over to the street that would lead them home. His uneasiness must have been very blatant to Hyunjin who easily slipped his hand into Seungmin’s as they went.

 

“You okay?” he asked.

 

“I know it’s kinda cliche, but I feel like we’re being followed.”

 

“What’s cliche?”

 

That managed to get a chuckle from him. It was always endearing to find the little things that the other didn’t understand.

 

“Just… something overused or unoriginal.”

 

“Is being followed unoriginal?”

 

“Forget I said it, okay Jinnie?”

 

He was ready to forget about it. Until his suspicions came to fruition. They were stopped at the mouth of the alleyway by a figure suddenly coming into view. They both slowed to a stop. 

 

“Um… hello?” No answer. Definitely a bad sign.

 

He began to move to go the other direction, but Hyunjin didn’t budge. It was as if he were in some weird vegetative state. His eyes were alight with something akin to fear and, perhaps… recognition? How could he recognize the guy, they could barely even see him. Seungmin brushed it off, starting to pull Hyunjin away. That didn’t end up mattering since there were three other people waiting to meet them from behind. 

 

“Hyunjin, we need to get out of here,” he muttered to the other, yanking on his arm to get him to snap out of it.

 

He yelped in surprise when one of the guys pulled out a taser of some sort, the electric sparks flying up and lighting up his face as he charged at them. Hyunjin grabbed Seungmin by the arm and pulled him close, dodging the guy stumblingly and dragging Seungmin along as he ran toward home. Seungmin began to lead him in a different direction, not wanting to show these guys where they lived.

 

“Come on!” He turned down another alley that went over to a busier street with brightly lit street shops and lots of late night shoppers. Hyunjin continued to look back over his shoulder to see if they were being followed as Seungmin kept running. He wondered if Hyunjin could be spotted amongst the crowd and cursed him for being so fucking tall. He ducked into another alleyway, pulling the other further in and pressing against the wall until he saw the men run past.

 

He couldn’t believe that actually worked, but he didn’t have time to really care. No time to rest in a time of crisis. They aren’t safe.

 

He ran again, pulling Hyunjin with him. He ran, blindly, barely paying attention to where he was going. His feet took him where he should be. He kept running, heart pounding in his ears and breath entering and exiting his body a thousand times a second.

 

He ran past home. Hyunjin stopped him and pulled him in for a hug. 

 

Seungmin almost cried.

 

“We were almost dead. We- they were gonna kill us!” Seungmin could barely keep it together; he could barely muster up the words to express what he felt. The confusion was one thing, but there was a myriad of other feelings as well. Just 

 

fuck.

 

* * *

 

Seungmin didn’t remember going to bed. Yet, when he opened his eyes, he was in his room. His face was pressed against his favorite pillow. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but Hyunjin eventually came into view, staring at him worriedly from where his head rested at the edge of the bed.

 

“You’re up.” He spoke gently as if he thought he may frighten the other. “How do you feel? Do you need anything?”

 

Seungmin sits up, rubbing his eyes. “What… what happened?”

 

“You just kind of… I don’t know, you stopped responding.” Seungmin looked down at Hyunjin who looked back at him for only a moment before looking down. “I’m sorry.”

 

Something was off. He seemed nervous and all it served to do was unsettle Seungmin.

 

“Jinnie… Hyunjin, what’s going on?”

 

Hyunjin continued to avoid eye contact, biting his lip as if he were thinking about what to say. If Seungmin wasn’t suspicious before, he definitely was now.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m _really_ sorry, I-”

 

“Hyunjin.” Seungmin grabs him by the chin and tilts his head up, narrow eyes meeting eyes full of worry. “What did you do?”

 

“I’m… I-I knew them. I knew who they were- who they are. I just, I’m sorry.”

 

“You knew those guys? How? Why are you sorry, that doesn’t explain…” 

 

He knew those guys. He was sorry for knowing them. Because they knew him.

 

“Did they… come after us because of you?”

 

“I was meant to meet with my hyung. A-after about a week, I was meant to go to where he told me to meet him with your help. He said if I didn’t show up, he would leave without me. He told me they would be after us and they would find me and I… I ignored it. I stayed.”

 

Seungmin listened to him speak, a feeling of disbelief growing more and more with each word. From what Seungmin gathered, Hyunjin had

 

“You lied about your memory?”

 

“I… I mean, I just acted like… I didn’t tell you anything, but I didn’t say I had lost my memory. I know that doesn’t make it better, but…”

 

And he had

 

“So you put me and my friends in danger. For what, exactly? Your own selfish gain? Do you get a kick out of mooching off of people?”

 

“No! I never wanted to put you in danger. I was going to leave, I really was! But I liked you guys. You guys liked me. You treated me normally and I got to experience things and after a week and a half had passed and nothing happened, I just…”

 

“You assumed everything was fine. Oh man, I lasted longer than I thought. That must mean everything is okay!” Seungmin mocked the other. Hyunjin grew that puppy dog look he had perfected so well. So good at looking innocent when he was anything but. It only made Seungmin angrier.

 

“You put us all in danger- you put Innie in danger! And for what? So you could see the city lights or some shit? Did you want real boy experiences? You’re not a fucking real boy, that’s been made very clear. If you had any feelings, any morals at all, you just…” Seungmin could barely finish. He was done. He knew taking a chance was idiotic, especially on this.

 

This thing.

 

How could he have been more stupid?

 

“Get out.”

 

“...S-Seungmin, I-”

 

“Get out!”

 

“I’m sorry! Please, you should know, I never meant-”

 

Seungmin had heard enough. He got up and yanked Hyunjin as hard as he could. There was barely any resistance anyway.

 

He easily pushed the other out of his room and told him “Get lost!” before slamming the door.

 

He hadn’t looked at him the whole time.

  


* * *

 

Seungmin hadn’t seen the hurt in Hyunjin’s eyes at his terrible words. He hadn’t seen the tears brewing as the other begged for him to simply understand how sorry he was. He hadn’t seen the other stumble down the stairs, just trying to leave as quickly as possible and give the other the space he deserved. He hadn’t seen when Hyunjin exited the house and walked down the street. Seungmin barely noticed when someone came up behind Hyunjin, covering his mouth as he attempted to scream out for help. He didn’t see the electric rod the man used to electrocute the other until he was no longer conscious. He hadn’t seen the truck he was stored away in and which drove away toward Miroh Tech.

 

Hopefully, he would see the evidence left behind.


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late upload, I was out of town this week! Hope you enjoy <3

Seungmin didn’t know how to feel. He was angry, of course. Disappointed, sad, and angry. How else was he supposed to feel? He thought everything he was feeling was pretty valid. He was entirely prepared to stare up at the ceiling of his bedroom in melancholy for days. But there was another feeling creeping up through his throat and into the back of his head. It sat there and gave him a headache as he thought back on his outburst toward Hyunjin.

 

It couldn’t possibly be guilt. Or regret. 

 

He deserved it all, right? He had put everyone in danger for selfish reasons. He was careless. But attributing those words to Hyunjin made Seungmin’s stomach turn. It felt wrong. Not his Jinnie, he wasn’t like that at all. He rolled his eyes as he rolled over in bed.

 

Who cares? It was over now. Seungmin just had to figure out what to do with him at this point. He would have to face him again soon enough. He decided to whip out his phone and figure out which of his friends had been suckered into taking him in now.

 

_ Seung  _ to  **Gay Nation**

 

_ Seung _

which of u took him

 

_ Mommabear _

Who took who

 

_ Seung _

… who is harboring hyunjin

 

_ bbchangbin _

havents een him

 

_ frecklefairy _

Same, didnt think he was capable of leaving your side

 

_ Mylilfox _

Yer one to talk

 

Seungmin was definitely confused now. None of them had Hyunjin with them?

 

_ Minhoe _

Ye, sungie and i aint seen him either

Whats this about

Yall have yer first fight???

 

_ Squirrelybird _

omG was he as scary as i imagined he would be

 

For some reason, Seungmin was scared. No worse, he was panicking. He was panicking terribly. He scrambled out of bed and made his way through the house, calling for the other boy.

 

“Hyunjin! Dude, where are you? This isn’t making me any less mad!” he huffs out as he clambers through the house. Not a sound came from the other. He wasn’t there.

 

_ Bangchancla _

Seung? Hello??

 

_ Seung _

Hse gone

Hes nt here

M flipipng out

 

Seungmin barely focused on what he typed as he ran outside, barefoot and on the brink of hyperventilation. “Hyunjin!” he called out, the dread only becoming more prominent in his voice as he continued on. He made his way down the street, trying to see if he was maybe hanging around or taking a walk or something. He didn’t see anything around here and Hyunjin wouldn’t just wander off somewhere without a destination in mind.

 

Seungmin had told him not to do that and he definitely always listened to Seungmin. At least when it mattered. Seungmin was beginning to pace around, the buzzing of his phone in his pocket all but forgotten. And then he noticed. He noticed something very important. The street he lived on was a dirt road at the moment because of recent road construction. That made it very easy for tracks to be left and footprints to become visible. 

 

Seungmin froze in his steps when he saw a collection of footprints, all spattered about and looking frantic only a few feet from his front door. Only a little ways from that was a new set of tire tracks driving off down the street, the footsteps leading right to them. Maybe this was insane. Maybe (read: definitely) this was the biggest jump to a conclusion Seungmin had ever taken. He lacked hard evidence or witnesses or anything that would drive him to this sure conclusion other than the fact that they were chased by those guys just the other day and that Seungmin could feel it. He knew those guys had taken him.

 

It was only reasonable, right? Maybe it wasn’t that big of a jump. Hyunjin wasn’t with his friends and those guys had found them before, how was he to know they hadn’t already been stalking his house? They had him.

 

And he needed to get him back.

 

* * *

It didn’t take long for his friends to all be at his house. By the time he had texted them, they were all on their way, full of worry. He, of course, had to explain to them all that happened for this to be occurring in the first place. They somehow took it way better than he thought they would.

 

“You yelled at him that way for some bullshit?” Minho accused.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry that I was upset he put my best friends in danger, pardon me.”

 

“Well, yeah. He did put us in harm's way.” Chan tried to back Seungmin up, but Jisung and Minho, always the more emotional, disagreed with Seungmin’s coping tactics tremendously.

 

“You didn’t have to say  _ all  _ of that. I mean, imagine being in his shoes. Of course, it was selfish, but like… he’s a kid, you know? Since when do we think our actions through? He was happy with us- with you- and that’s all he really cared about.” 

 

Maybe Minho was right in some respect. He had been extremely hard on the other. Of course, he never had ill intent, not the Hyunjin Seungmin knew. He just couldn’t believe he had been so careless. But, then again, what  _ would  _ Seungmin do in Hyunjin’s shoes? If he had found a cool group of guys who took the time to get to know him and treat him like a human for once? To teach him things and show him some love?

 

“Okay, the argument isn’t what truly matters now.” Felix piped up.

 

“Yeah,” Jeongin agreed. “What’s the plan of action? We have to get Jinnie Hyung back.”

 

Right, a plan. Seungmin definitely did not have one of those.

 

“So… I don’t really have any idea what to do. At this rate, my only suggestion would be to break into Miroh Tech and see how far we get, so yeah.” he sighed. He hated not having a plan. If only he had a map of the place or something, they could figure out a realistic course of action.

 

“Okay, breaking into Miroh Tech like that would almost definitely get us all killed or arrested.” Woojin rolled his eyes.

 

“What’s this about breaking into Miroh Tech?” A collective gasp rose from the room as Seungmin’s dad walked in.

 

Well, fuck.

 

* * *

Explaining everything to his dad wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. They dumbed it down a bit to save time, but he knew just about everything they knew about Hyunjin at this point.

 

“I knew there was a little something off with that kid.” was all he really had to offer. “The way he spoke was a little too weird to be a simple quirk.”

 

“Yeah, so…” Seungmin trailed. All his friends looked to him expectantly before Changbin simply asked what all of them were thinking.

 

“So can you help? Or…”

 

Seungmin’s dad seemed to think about it for a moment.

 

“I believe that… I have the maps for that place. After I was hired to do a bit of technological renovation on it.”

 

“Yes! Dad, you’re the best!”

 

“Yeah, but,” he adds, putting emphasis on the ‘but’. “I am going to help you plan all this. If I didn’t, your mother would kill me and you would probably die. So, let’s make this foolproof.”

 

* * *

It had taken about an hour and a half with all their heads put together. They had mapped out a route through the building, taking an educated guess of where Hyunjin would be held. They would be equipped with custom made stun guns and some padding under their clothes as not to make themselves look more suspicious. Getting in would probably be the easiest part.

 

They arrived a block away from Miroh Tech in the heart of the city, all dressed in their specific outfits. Woojin and Chan were to go distract the front desk person and the guards by bringing in a faulty machine while the others snuck into the back.

 

“You guys ready?” Chan asked, looking back from the driver’s seat.

 

“Let’s go get our boy,” Minho said, hopping out of the car without hesitation. Seungmin had never felt such a sense of determination or seen it from the others. The most determined Jisung had ever been was during a rice cake eating challenge in the 7th grade. They all piled out of the car, pacing themselves as not to draw attention by walking in a group. Woojin and Chan hauled their machine out of the trunk and went in ahead of everyone else.

 

By the time everyone had entered the main building and taken their places, they were already at the front desk. Woojin had put on his scolding mother voice as he went over the many bugs and ticks they had experienced with the machine. Seungmin and the others made their way to the other side of the waiting room where the entrance to the corridor leading to the labs and such was located.

 

Time to trigger the distraction.

 

Seungmin reached into his pocket where the remote that would trigger the robot to start acting out was located. He gave a silent countdown before pressing the button. The robot went off without a hitch, making a loud, alarming noise and prancing about the lobby like a pony. The desk worker dived behind the desk and the guards were after the thing in seconds. This was their moment.

 

Seungmin didn’t hesitate to slip into the back with the others.

 

“Alright, time to split up.” He whispered. “Lix and Binnie, you take the left and search the labs. Minho and Sungie take the right and search the preservation and recovery pods. Innie and I will go forward and check the diagnostic rooms.” 

 

They all nod to their orders and head off in their respective directions. With their stun guns drawn, Seungmin and Jeongin head toward the diagnostic rooms as quickly and quietly as possible. They froze in place a little ways down as they heard voices coming. They pressed themselves against the wall, hoping whoever it was would pass. Just their luck, it was two guards coming from the opposite direction which meant they had a full view of the two boys.

 

“Hey!” One of them called, going in for the attack. Seungmin didn’t hesitate to shoot the guy, sending him into a stiffened state on the ground. The other guard jumped over his body, dodging their shots easily after seeing what they did.

 

“Shit, let’s go!” Seungmin grabbed Jeongin by the hand and began to run, leading him where they needed to go as the other boy continued to shoot behind him. Seungmin heard a thud that must signify that he got him eventually. They got to the end of the hall and rounded a corner, seeing a line of dark rooms. 

 

“This must be it. Let’s start checking. You go down there, I’ll start up there.” They split directions and start going through the rooms. The first one was unlocked, surprisingly. Probably because nothing was in it. Seungmin sighed and moved on to the next. Still nothing.

 

Seungmin was moving on to the next, but hesitated. He heard something inside. Some sort of muffled wining. He furrowed his eyebrows, reaching slowly for the handle when-

 

“Hyung!” Jeongin motioned for him to come over as he broke the window in the door. Seungmin rushed over and that’s when he saw him. Hyunjin was there, laying on a table beneath one light. Like an actor beneath a spotlight. He was motionless, tied down to the table he was laying on. Seungmin approached him, slow at first, but he soon remembered the situation and ran to him.

 

“Hyunjin? Jinnie, are you okay?” he shakes the other, trying to get him to come to consciousness. The other began to stir after a moment. His stirring became panicked begging.

 

“No, please! N-No-No more today, you said!” His pained begging only made Seungmin’s heart wrench. 

 

“No, Jinnie- it’s okay! It’s me, sweetheart, you’re alright.” He attempted to calm him down, running his fingers through Hyunjin’s bangs. “Please, what did they do to you?”

 

“S-Seung? You can’t-c-can’t be here.” His voice was glitching out like crazy. They had been doing something to him. Who knows what it was. “It’s only my imagination.”

 

“No, I’m here for you. I swear, I would never let them keep you here.”

 

“But-But I made you s-so-soooo…” He was fading out, his eyes were closing. 

 

“We have to get him out of here.” Seungmin begins to frantically pace the room, looking for the button to release him from the table. Seungmin heard loud and fast footsteps coming toward the room and he was starting to feel the fear overtake him. “Jeongin?”

 

It was just the others, coming into the room after Jeongin and Seungmin had failed to meet back up.

 

“What’s going on?” Minho asked. “You found him?”

 

“Yes, but he’s secured to this table.”

 

“We have to hurry, those guards we stunned earlier are looking for us.” Jisung huffed through labored breaths.

 

“Yeah, same. Let’s get this show on the road.” Felix began to help Seungmin look. He found a little hatch on the wall and he pulled it, the restraints snapping away from Hyunjin’s limbs easily. They all rush over to him and help him sit up. He was no longer conscious which would not make this easy. 

 

“C’mon, let’s go. It’ll be okay.”

 

“Will it be okay?” 

 

They all startled out of their skin at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. Some guy was standing in the doorway, Jeongin- who had been keeping watch- was being held up by the guy, completely unconscious.

 

“What did you do to him?” Changbin barked out.

 

“Same that will be done to you if you don’t put my money maker back.” He hissed. “People would kill for technology like that. Technology that I have yet to understand, but I need to. And i can’t very well do that without a subject to study.”

 

“That’s all he is to you, some product? An advanced android for you to study? I’m sure you could figure it out on your own.”

 

“Android?” The guy scoffed. “You are quite foolish if you believe he is an android. He, my sweet, ignorant child, is a cyborg. Fully human with robot parts painstakingly integrated into his being to keep him alive. And while you have been playing house with him, I have been scouring the city to find him and I will not let him slip through my fingers now.” He held a gun up to Jeongin’s head, gaining a gasp from the group.

 

“So, I suggest you release him and I will release your friend. I will leave you alone, and you will never come for him again.” 

 

Seungmin didn’t know what to do. Well, he knew what to do. But he didn’t feel very good about the choice he needed to make. The others looked over at Seungmin, eyes widened as if they were flabbergasted he was taking this long to make a choice. Each was a precious life. If he let Hyunjin go, he wouldn’t die right away, right? Who’s to say he would die at all?

 

He was trying too hard to convince himself. He knew it was death either way. He sighed, about ready to succumb to the guy’s wishes and perhaps go back to the drawing board when a buzzing noise came from behind him and he was slumping to the floor. Woojin appeared from behind him, grabbing Jeongin up and lifting him into his arms.

 

“We don’t have time to waste, dummies, let’s go!” He immediately ran for the exit and they followed after him happily. The exit they had agreed upon was in the back where Chan would be waiting with the car. They hurried out, just as the gaggle of guards was coming to confront them. Some stopped when they saw that guy slumped on the ground. Seungmin still wasn’t sure who he was. He had never been in the news talking about the technological innovations of the company. That was always someone else.

 

Whoever he was, he must have been important, but seungmin didn’t care. He got what he came for. They made it out, Jisung and Changbin at the rear shooting at the guards as they were chased all the way out the door. They piled into the waiting car, practically screaming at Chan to get going before the door was even closed. Seungmin held Hyunjin close to him as he looked back out the back windshield.

 

Thought they had gotten away, he couldn’t help but think this definitely wasn’t over. The fact that they knew where he lived and that they were so obsessed with this technology made that very clear in his mind. But as he looked down at Hyunjin’s form, though he wasn’t in the best shape, Seungmin knew everything would somehow turn out alright.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took me so long! I was just not feeling it for the past few weeks. Thinking about picking up my computer and finishing it made me uncomfortable lol. But we are finally here! I'm not great at endings to bare with me and I hope you enjoy.

Suengmin wished he wasn’t right sometimes. Seungmin and the others got Hyunjin back home, carrying him down to the basement where his dad was waiting to help out with whatever they had done to him there. Jeongin was laid down on the couch upstairs where some of the others were trying to wake him up. Seungmin was pacing in the entranceway to the house, worried about too many things at once.

 

He was worried that Hyunjin was a bit more injured than he seemed on the surface. He was worried that whatever that guy did to Jeongin was more fatal than they could know. He was worried about that guy from the lab coming after them again. Come after Hyunjin again.

 

He couldn’t let that happen.

 

For once, he felt a bit of clarity in the midst of a panic. He knew what had to be done in this moment and, hopefully, the effect would trigger the following events to go in their favor. Without a word to the others, he left the house and went straight toward the police station.

 

* * *

 

Yes. they had broken into Miroh Tech. Yes, they had technically assaulted some guards, but in self-defense of course. They gave the guards shocks, the guards had had guns. Not to mention Jeongin was drugged by the scientist they had encountered. And, above all, Hyunjin was being held in their captivity. Hyunjin who was entirely human and permeable to all the pain and suffering they inflicted on him while there. Not to mention the fact that they kidnapped him.

 

After Seungmin had explained everything to the police and an investigation was opened. All his friends were interviewed, except Hyunjin who had yet to wake up. Miroh Tech was swept through and several workers were taken into custody. In the middle of the search, Seungmin heard they stumbled upon that room he had seen. That room where he could hear something that sounded like a person.

 

That room which held the other end of this twisted experiment: another boy. A very much alive, very much human, very much kidnapped boy was being held against his will by these workers in order to further their cyborg research.

 

To put it simply after that, Miroh Tech Seoul division was permanently shut down and those workers were sentenced to some long amount of jail time on the basis of something like child endangerment, kidnapping, the works. Seungmin was just glad to hear they were being put away and wouldn’t be able to come for Hyunjin anymore.

 

Hyunjin. 

 

Seungmin was in a hospital. He was sitting in the corner of the room in one of those unwaveringly uncomfortable chairs. His eyes were trained on the boy in the bed whose own eyes wouldn’t open. What they had done to him, no one was quite sure, but it had taken its toll. The upside to all this was that Innie was totally fine. Whatever he had been injected with was just made to knock people out for a certain period of time. Seungmin wished that’s what was wrong with Hyunjin.

 

He let out a long sigh just as his mom walked into the room.

 

“Still sleeping?”

 

“Yep. Not a creature is stirring.”

 

She walked over to Seungmin, carding a hand through his hair. “He will be fine. It’s a mother’s instinct.”

 

“But what if he’s not? What-What if-”

 

“Don’t plague yourself with what-ifs, it’ll only scare you. He woke up for a moment when you found him, right? He’ll wake up again. And once he does, you guys will live on to be awkwardly flirting with each other.” She chuckled.

 

“Mom!”

 

“What? You think I haven’t noticed?”

 

“I just… wow. It’s honestly weird how cool you are with all of this.”

 

“Cool? Oh, don’t think for a second that both you and your father aren’t in trouble for harboring this secret and going into this whole situation in the most reckless manner, I mean- honestly. You should have just called the police in the first place!” She brought a hand up, pinching the bridge of her nose as if to calm herself. “You two will be the death of me. I guess Hyunjin will have to be my saving grace.”

 

“What do you mean? I mean… is he going to stay with us?”

 

“Where else did you expect him to go?”

 

“I dunno, I… thanks, Mom.”

 

“Just try not to worry, hm?” She leaned down and gave Seungmin a kiss on the head before leaving the room. “Don’t be home too late.”

 

* * *

 

It was the third day of Hyunjin showing no sign of waking up. Seungmin, accompanied by the others, had been sitting around the room all day. They took turns going to get food for each other and such, cracking jokes as they normally did. But nothing felt quite right. Seungmin had thrown all caution to the wind and was sitting on the edge of Hyunjin’s bed, running his hand through the other boy’s bangs.

 

“If he doesn’t wake up, I’m gonna kill him.” Minho huffed. “I need my model back. I was going to make him a fashion icon.”

 

“Are you more worried about Jinnie or yourself?” Woojin asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

The others let out empty giggles that barely resonated.

 

“Of course I’m worried.” Minho said quietly a few moments later.

 

“He wouldn’t want us to worry.” Chan spoke up.

 

“Right,” Felix nodded. “He would want us to think of something positive, right?”

 

“How can we be certain of what he would want, we barely knew him,” Seungmin muttered.

 

“Don’t talk like that?”

 

“Like what, Jeongin? Realistically?” 

 

“In the past tense,” Jeongin replied sternly. “Don’t do that. Only future tense. Like ‘I  _ will  _ kick Seungmin hyung’s ass if he speaks in past tense like that again’.”

 

“Oh, how about ‘I  _ will  _ not hesitate to slap you both upside the head?”

 

“How about  _ will  _ you all be quieter because I have a splitting headache?” Came a gravelly voice, laced with exhaustion as if they had just woken up. The room was still and quiet as they all turned to face who had spoken. Hyunjin, who sat up and was casually yawning and rubbing his eyes as if everything was totally fine, had just spoken to them. He had woken up and they had been too busy fighting, of course. Hyunjin licked his lips as he sat up, eyes still closed as if he was trying to hang on to a dream he had been having.

 

He finally opened his eyes and was startled to find everyone staring at him. He looked around at them all until his eyes met Seungmin’s.

 

“Uh… hi?” He said. He was startled once again by everyone letting out a cheer all at once, making a beeline straight for his bed. His eyes widened as everyone clung to an appendage of his for dear life, all talking over each other about the same thing. Seungmin could see the surprised confusion in Hyunjin’s eyes as everyone hugged on him like a teddy bear.

 

“What exactly is going on?” he asked.

 

“We thought you were dead!” Jeongin was the first to admit and when had he started crying? “Well, they did. I knew you weren’t.”

 

“Oh please, we all had our doubts about you waking up.” Minho rolled his eyes.

 

“You were asleep for about two and a half days.” Seungmin finally spoke up, voice cutting through everyone else’s though it wasn’t nearly as loud. Everyone else’s voice faded away. “Two days, seven hours, forty-five minutes, and thirty seconds in counting since you passed out and I wasn’t sure if you would wake up again.”

 

Hyunjin looked over at Seungmin with those eyes. Those big, beautiful eyes that were finally open and full of worry and Seungmin just

 

lost it.

 

His vision was blurred with tears as he leaned in and held Hyunjin who didn’t hesitate to wrap his own arms around Seungmin. Seungmin could hear his heart beating and his tears only intensified. He remembered all those terrible things he had said to him. He remembered the understanding and colossal guilt that washed over him when that scientist told him Hyunjin was entirely human. Though, he knew that before the scientist told him, it only served to make it more real.

 

Hyunjin was real. And, somehow, he didn’t hate Seungmin for all that had happened.

 

“How can you stand to even let me hug you?” Seungmin choked out through his tears. He sat up, wiping them out of his eyes as best he can so Hyunjin is the only thing he can see. That’s all he wants to see. “I was so, so awful to you. Not just our last fight, but so many times before that. I just… how can you… I’m so sorry, Jinnie. I never want to hurt you like that again. I never want to see you hurt like that again.”

 

Hyunjin was sat in silence, staring at Seungmin through bangs that had grown too long once again. He wanted to reach out and push them out of Hyunjin’s eyes, but he suddenly felt almost inaccessible. 

 

“Seungmin… it’s okay. You don’t need to be sorry.”

 

“But I do! I drove you away and got you kidnapped and-”

 

“Hey, just breathe!” Hyunjin chuckled lightly. Goddamn chuckled. How could he do that? He reached out, cupping Seungmin’s cheek in his hand. Seungmin leaned into his touch, craving it. “I know you didn’t mean any of that. Because despite how angry you were with me, you came to get me. You saved me from them. Don’t think about it so much.”

 

Seungmin reached out, running his hand gently through Hyunjin’s hair and down his face. His eyes met Hyunjin’s and he was leaning in until his soft lips met Seungmin’s. “Please, don’t leave me ever again.” he whispered against his lips.

 

“Never.”

 

And Seungmin knew he meant it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this. Maybe I'll do an epilogue if ya'll want or if you don't like the ending. I dunno, we shall see. But either way, thank you for reading my mess of a story!


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did an epilogue because you guys actually wanted it, lol. I tried to just have some nice fluff between the two. I'm not great at fluff (kind of out of practice since this is my first fanfic in a while), but hopefully this is as cute and stuff as I wanted it to be for you guys! Thank you again for reading and I hope you enjoy this last chapter!

Seungmin had been so incredibly naïve about how great being in a relationship actually was. The things he used to find himself scoffing at in disgust have become things he adores doing himself. He would get caught up watching Hyunjin do something impossibly cute only to kiss the other on the cheek when he met Seungmin’s eyes in confusion. He would stay up late on Friday nights watching movies with him and stroking his hair as his head rested in Seungmin’s lap. He didn’t feel like the one outlier dragging their group down with his inability to snag a date for things.

 

Everything was just better with Hyunjin by his side.

 

The best part by far was having someone to do stuff with. All those school dances and events and simply awkward functions where Seungmin yearned for someone to be by his side. Hyunjin was there, just like he promised. It was fun to experience these things with him. Like last month when they took a trip to the amusement park together with all their friends. Seungmin could see how overwhelmed with wonder the other boy was as they traversed through the park.

 

“Oh! What’s that? No wait, what’s that? Let’s go on that thing first and then that one and then-”

 

It was quite adorable, Seungmin knew that for certain. And unlike his buttheaded friends, Hyunjin didn’t make fun of him when he screamed his lungs out on all the rides (extreme or the opposite). He wouldn’t embarrass Seungmin that way. Though he was extremely good at embarrassing others like the time when they were all spying on Jeongin’s little date with Jaemin. The two were entirely oblivious, so wrapped up in each other as they sat only a few tables away at the local diner.

 

When Jaemin went in for a kiss, Hyunjin innocently stated far too loudly: “I hope he doesn’t cut himself on Innie’s braces.” Whether he meant it innocently or not (Seungmin couldn’t accept the possibility that it _was_ anything but innocent), the laughter that emanated from the table was striking. Seungmin almost felt bad for Innie who went crimson red in embarrassment and sank down into the booth. Poor Jaemin just looked confused and Hyunjin had a mixture of both those emotions on his face.

 

“Don’t laugh, he was just concerned for Jaemin’s well-being!” Minho spoke up under the guise of sticking up for Hyunjin when he was really just making another joke. Later that day, Seungmin had to explain how spying was supposed to work.

 

It warmed Seungmin’s heart to look back on these past few months while laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was early morning as it usually was when he woke up. Hyunjin had long been moved to the guest room, his parents not so fond of the idea of their son sleeping in the same room as his boyfriend. He assured them that Hyunjin was far too innocent for that, their argument being something along the lines of “With your friends, that definitely won’t last”. Either way, didn’t stop him from sneaking into Seungmin’s room sometimes or vice versa. Usually for a reason.

 

Last night had been one of those nights where Hyunjin was plagued with images and ideas that coursed through his brain like a winding snake. He couldn’t turn it off or face it alone. Those things that just got him worked up. Seungmin could probably guess what it was, though Hyunjin never said much about these times other than a gentle “Nightmare” before crawling into bed with Seungmin.

 

Seungmin never questioned him.

 

He does his best to calm the other back to sleep, running tentative fingers through his hair and kissing away tears that the other may or may not know are present.

 

The best times are when Hyunjin just needs a good cuddle to relax and fall asleep. As was the case last night, Seungmin recalls, as the other lays beside him in a deep slumber. He smiles at him, leaning in and beginning to pepper kisses over Hyunjin’s face. The other boy whines as he slowly stirs, mumbling about being woken and ‘oh, the humanity’.

 

“I was lonely.” Seungmin pouts. Hyunjin’s eyes open and meet Seungmin’s.

 

“I’ll just have to fix that.” Hyunjin maneuvers himself so that he is on top of Seungmin and promptly drops down, allowing his weight to suffocate the other. “Better?”

 

“Oh my god, you absolute asshole.” Seungmin tries to sound mad, but it’s muffled by laughter.

 

“You shouldn’t feel lonely now.”

 

“Get off of me!” Seungmin complains, to which Hyunjin responds by fake snoring. Loudly.

 

Seungmin rolls his eyes before a devious smirk makes its way onto his face. He snakes his hand beneath Hyunjin’s shirt and begins to tickle his side. Seungmin had recently found out about just how ticklish the other was and it was honestly the best thing ever. Hyunjin dissolved into his goofy laughter, struggling to get his protests out. Hyunjin is so loud that Seungmin fails to hear his door open.

 

Fails to hear his mom enter and fails to hear her cough dramatically as she stands in the doorway. He can very clearly hear when she all but shouts his name over Hyunjin’s laughter and Seungmin’s immediate, automatic reaction is to _yeet_ his boyfriend across the room. Poor Hyunjin lands on the very hard, wooden flooring with a grunt while Seungmin sits up in his bed and meets his mother’s unimpressed gaze with his own falsely innocent one.

 

“Morning mom-”

 

“Your friends are here.” She interrupts. She makes a show of looking from him to Hyunjin (who is looking up at her with wide, fearful eyes) and back to him before walking off whilst shaking her head in disapproval. “I should put them both up for adoption.” She mutters as she goes. Seungmin chances a look over at Hyunjin who had the same look of being unimpressed, though far poutier.

 

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Seungmin says sweetly. Hyunjin aggressively blows his bangs out of his eyes as he stands up.

 

“Get a rug.” He mutters as he leaves the room.

 

Hyunjin was never one to be upset for too long and by the time they were out and about with the guys, he was back to falling all over Seungmin and Seungmin very happily accepted. Today they were participating in a day that Seungmin had always been haphazardly invited to but never accepted: date night.

 

His friends had been doing it for years, starting from when Woojin hyung and Chan hyung began dating back when he was still in middle school and it’s only grown since then. It’s more of a date day than a night, lasting an entire Saturday, but Seungmin wasn’t going to complain about spending a whole day being affectionate with Jinnie.

 

They began at the movies, prime cuddling territory. It was dark so no one sent dirty looks and it was a scary movie which excused it further. It had been previously established through many a movie night that Hyunjin was kind of a scaredy-cat, easily frightened by quick motions and score spikes. Seungmin was not and he was there for Hyunjin to hold onto and hide behind when he became suspicious of the film’s intentions. It was too cute for Seungmin to bare.

 

He could feel his heart becoming full as he watched the other stare at the silver screen with eyes the size of saucers. He was balled up in his seat like a frog ready to pounce, butt barely touching the fabric by the time the film ended. The lights came up and all Hyunjin gave was a weak “That wasn’t so bad”. Seungmin smiled up at him knowingly, wrapping his arm around his waist as they all exited the theatre.

 

“Alright ladies,” Minho addresses the others as they walk through the parking lot back to Chan’s truck. “Now that we have our basic date night event over, time to get to the stylized part of the evening. For those of us who aren’t returning members of the little date night club, you don’t know about this. But every date night is planned out on rotation by each couple. We are going to indulge in activities that are characteristic to- drum roll please- Jisung and I. Ya’ll better prepare, it’s going to be amazing.”

 

“Ugh, I wouldn’t have come if I had known.” Seungmin mutters.

 

“Yeah, last time you guys planned something, we ended up in jail.” Felix huffs.

 

“I’ll have you know, that was a holding cell.” Jisung corrects. “We were put there to wait for our parents to get us.”

 

“Yeah, trust me. You guys don’t know what jail is.” Everyone looks over to Woojin in disbelief. “What?”

 

“Okay, look. This will be fun, no jail involved. Trust me.”

 

“Last time we trusted Minho… we ended up in jail.” Changbin grumbles as they all climb into the car.

 

* * *

 

 

Seungmin was surprised to say the least. Going into this little trip, he was fully prepared to shield Hyunjin’s eyes during whatever little thing Minho and Jisung had planned. He honestly thought he would have he and the others watch them make out before he thought they would actually have them do a real activity. But they proved everyone wrong.

 

A concept that Seungmin never thought of: Hyunjin playing mini golf.

 

Seungmin honestly feels like he’s just watching videos of Hyunjin be cute somewhere most of the time. Is it kind of weird that he is okay with just watching Hyunjin be cute all the time? Perhaps. He certainly doesn’t care though. In fact, all of his friends were being pretty cute. Changbin’s domestic side always shined through more when he was with Felix. That became clear as he cornily wrapped himself around Felix to hold his hands over the other’s and ‘teach’ him how to swing his club. Seungmin couldn’t help but chuckle.

 

Chan and Woojin were always like that one old couple and Minho and Jisung were a couple of hoes as usual, playing some weird version of strip mini golf that will probably get them kicked out very soon. Jaemin and Jeongin, another new addition to the group, were just being so cute it was ridiculous. Seungmin related to their awkward glances and shy smiles all too well considering he only recently went through the same thing. And then there was Hyunjin.

 

Sweet, clumsy Hyunjin. Sweet, clumsy Hyunjin who definitely doesn’t know his own strength and hits the golf ball so hard that it pierces the windmill, leaving a hole in the paper turbine.

 

“I saw that.” Seungmin says in mock seriousness, coming up behind the other and wrapping his arms around him.

 

“Oh goodness, really? Am-Am I in trouble? That totally means other people saw it, right? I’m going to be thrown in ja-”

 

Seungmin cuts off his frantic rant with a kiss. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” Hyunjin smiles slowly as if something is dawning on him.

 

“Well, will you kiss me again?”

 

“You never have to ask for that.” Seungmin kisses the other again happily, weaving his fingers into the hair at the back of Hyunjin’s head. His hair has gotten a bit long and Seungmin may or may not be procrastinating getting the other boy a haircut just to see what happens. And also, because it’s impossibly, heart-achingly adorable watching him find different ways to push his long bangs out of his eyes or when he hides behind them when he’s shy.

 

Hyunjin wraps his arms around Seungmin’s waist and almost dip him a bit as he leans into the kiss as if they’re dancing. Maybe they kind of fall into their own world and are only cut off when Jisung and Minho are being dragged out of the golf course in their underwear by the cops. This was going to be a long night for sure, but at least he had Jinnie with him. And he would have him for a long time.          

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for checking out my first Stray Kids story! More tags will probably be added as the story continues. I don't plan stuff so, who knows where this will go ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. If you enjoy or if you don't, please leave comments telling me why! Criticism is always welcome (and so are kudos <3).


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